JPH1012528A - Substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing system, thereby enabling effective use of the space in a clean room, etc. SOLUTION: Substrate processing apparatus 100 are arranged in a clean room. Each substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a processing unit 101, an exposure processing unit STP, and an interface IFB provided between both the units 101 and STP, and is disposed so that a short side of the processing unit 101 may be aligned with a short side of the exposure-processing unit STP. A long side of a processing portion 120 in the processing unit 101 and a long side of a processing portion 120 in the processing unit 101, included in the other substrate processing apparatus 100, are opposite each other separated by a distance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a series of processes (for example, a resist coating process) for a thin substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a "substrate") such as a semiconductor substrate or a liquid crystal glass substrate.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing system in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses for performing exposure processing, development processing, and the like are arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, various surface treatments such as resist coating, exposure and development are performed on the above-mentioned substrate. Generally, these processes are performed by a substrate processing apparatus including a processing unit that performs a process such as a resist coating process and a developing process, an exposure processing unit that performs an exposure process, and an interface that connects the two units. .

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the structure of a conventional substrate processing apparatus 200. The substrate processing apparatus 200 includes an exposure processing unit STP, an interface IF2, and a processing unit 201. Note that FIG. 9 is provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system for ease of explanation.

The exposure processing unit STP is a unit for performing exposure processing on a substrate on which a resist has been applied, and integrally forms an exposure machine and a robot for carrying in and out the substrate. The exposure processing unit STP includes a controller rack CO containing a control controller for controlling the exposure processing, an operation rack OP containing an operation panel, and an excimer laser oscillator for emitting excimer laser light as an exposure light source. LA is connected.

[0005] The processing unit 201 is a unit that performs processing on the substrate before and after exposure.
At 01, a resist coating process, a developing process, a heat treatment, and the like are performed. The processing unit 201 includes a processing unit sequence 230, a processing unit sequence 240, and an indexer ID. The indexer ID is a processing device for carrying out and carrying in a substrate, and includes a substrate transfer device 225, and a carrier 220 capable of storing substrates in multiple stages is detachably mounted. The substrate transfer device 225 is movable not only in the Y-axis direction in the drawing but also in the Z-axis direction. It has a function of receiving the processed substrate from the substrate transport device TR and storing the processed substrate in the carrier 220.

The processing section array 230 includes a heat treatment section 210 and edge exposure apparatuses EE1 and EE2. The heat treatment section 210 includes a hot plate for heating the substrate and a cool plate for cooling the substrate. Also, the transport path R
2, a processing unit row 240 is formed at a position facing the processing unit row 230, and the processing unit row 240
Spin coater (rotary resist coating device) SC1, SC
2 and spin developer (rotary developing device) SD1, SD
2 is provided. The substrate transport device TR is movable in the X-axis direction along the transport path R2, and is also capable of moving and rotating in the Z-axis direction.
The substrate is transported between the processing units provided in each of the processing units 0 and 240.

The board paid out from the indexer ID is:
A resist coating process is performed in the spin coater SC1 or SC2, an edge exposure process is performed in the edge exposure device EE1 or EE2, and a heating process and a cooling process are performed in the heat treatment unit 210. The transfer between the processing units is performed by the substrate transfer device TR, and the substrate after the resist coating process is also transferred by the substrate transfer device TR and transferred to the interface IF2 through the opening P2.

[0008] The interface IF2 includes a substrate transport device 270, a buffer unit 260, a substrate loading unit 255,
And a substrate unloading section 250. Substrate transfer device 270
Has a configuration similar to that of the substrate transport apparatus TR of the processing unit 201, is movable in the Y-axis direction, and is also capable of moving and rotating in the Z-axis direction. When a substrate coated with resist is passed to interface IF2,
The substrate transfer device 270 receives the substrate and the substrate loading unit 2
55. The substrate placed on the substrate loading section 255 is loaded by the loading / unloading robot of the exposure processing unit STP, and then subjected to exposure processing.

The substrate after the exposure processing is again placed on the substrate carrying-out section 250 by the carrying-in / out robot. Then, the substrate placed on the substrate unloading section 250 is
By the processing unit 2 through the opening P2
01 is transferred to the substrate transport device TR.

The substrate subjected to the exposure processing returned to the processing unit 201 is carried into the spin developer SD1 or SD2 by the substrate transport apparatus TR and subjected to the development processing, and then returned to the indexer ID again by the substrate transport apparatus TR. .

As described above, a series of processing in the substrate processing apparatus 200 is completed, and the developed substrate is stored in the carrier 220 and carried out of the apparatus.

The above-described substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus usually used in a clean room, and a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are often installed in one clean room.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a layout in a clean room in which a plurality of conventional substrate processing apparatuses 200 are arranged. FIG. 10 is provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system for ease of explanation. As shown, in this layout, four substrate processing apparatuses 200 are arranged. Although two of the four substrate processing apparatuses 200 shown in FIG. 10 (upper right and lower left in FIG. 10) are symmetrical in the figure with the substrate processing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. ,
Even in such a case, it has the same function as the substrate processing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 9 and performs the same operation, so it is treated as the same apparatus in this specification.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the clean room, there is provided an automatic transfer apparatus AGV for loading an unprocessed substrate into the substrate processing apparatus 200 and unloading a processed substrate from the substrate processing apparatus 200. This automatic transport device AGV runs along the Y-axis direction in the figure. Then, the four substrate processing apparatuses 200 have their indexer IDs
Are arranged so as to face the traveling route of the automatic transfer device AGV. With this arrangement, the automatic transfer device AGV
Can transfer substrates to and from the four substrate processing apparatuses 200 simply by traveling linearly along the Y-axis direction.

[0015]

By the way, in recent years, the planar size of a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate has been increased, and accordingly, each substrate processing unit (spin coater, spin developer, etc.) has also been increased in size. . When the size of each substrate processing unit increases, the size of the processing unit also increases, particularly in the direction in which a plurality of processing units are arranged. For example, in the processing unit 201 shown in FIG. 9, since four processing units of the spin coaters SC1 and SC2 and the spin developers SD1 and SD2 are arranged in the X-axis direction in the figure, the length is increased in the X-axis direction.

Then, as a result of disposing the substrate processing apparatus 200 incorporating the elongated processing unit 201 in a clean room, an unused space PL1 is generated as shown in FIG.

As is well known, in a clean room, a clean environment is maintained by removing suspended particulates and forming an air flow (downflow) in which the temperature, humidity and the like are controlled to be constant. I have. Since maintaining such a clean environment also requires expenses such as a filter and a temperature controller, it is not desirable to generate the unused space PL1 as described above.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, the space PL1 as described above increases as the number of substrate processing apparatuses 200 arranged in the clean room increases, and the wasteful cost also increases. Will be.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a substrate processing system capable of effectively using a space in a clean room or the like without waste.

[0020]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is a substrate processing system in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a matrix. a) a rectangular first processing unit for performing a predetermined process on the substrate; and (b) a rectangular first processing unit which is installed at a distance from the first processing unit and performs a predetermined process on the substrate. Two processing units,
(c) an interface provided at the interval between the first and second processing units and for transferring the substrate between the first and second processing units; The first processing unit and the second processing unit are arranged such that the direction of the short side of the rectangle of the unit and the direction of the short side of the rectangle of the second processing unit are substantially the same.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first processing unit includes a rotation processing unit that rotates the substrate to perform the processing, and The unit is an exposure processing unit that performs exposure processing on the substrate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the rotation processing unit is formed along a long side of a rectangle of the first processing unit, and the plurality of substrate processing systems are formed. Each of the apparatuses is configured such that the long side of the rectangle of the first processing unit on which the rotation processing unit is formed is the long side of the rectangle of the first processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus of one of the other substrate processing apparatuses. It is arranged opposite to the long side on which the rotation processing part is formed, with a space therebetween.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The substrate processing system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses arranged in a matrix. In this specification, first, a substrate processing apparatus included in a substrate processing system will be described, and then an arrangement of the entire substrate processing system will be described.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 100 constituting a substrate processing system according to the present invention. 1 to 4 are provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system to clarify the directional relationship. The substrate processing apparatus 100 is configured such that a rectangular exposure processing unit STP and a rectangular processing unit 101 are arranged so as to sandwich an interface IFB.

Here, the terms used in this specification will be defined with reference to FIG. Each of the processing unit 101 and the exposure processing unit STP of the substrate processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a rectangular (however, excluding a square) shape, and has a width and a depth, respectively. The width and the depth of the processing unit 101 are respectively the width (length in the X-axis direction) and the depth (length in the Y-axis direction) viewed from the indexer ID side.
And the width and depth of the exposure processing unit STP are
These are the width (length in the X-axis direction) and the depth (length in the Y-axis direction) as viewed from the side of the maintenance door 51 described later.
In the illustrated substrate processing apparatus 100, the width of each of the processing unit 101 and the exposure processing unit STP is shorter than the depth. In this case, the processing unit 10
1. In each of the exposure processing units STP, the side of the rectangle corresponding to the width is the short side, and the side of the rectangle corresponding to the depth is the long side. Then, the processing unit 101 and the exposure processing unit S
In both TPs, the length of the short side is the width, and the direction of the short side is the X-axis direction. Similarly, the length of the long side is the depth, and the direction of the long side is the Y-axis direction. If the depth of the unit is shorter than the width, on the contrary, the side of the rectangle corresponding to the width is the long side, and the side of the rectangle corresponding to the depth is the short side.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a substrate processing apparatus 100 constituting a substrate processing system according to the present invention, a long side of a processing unit 101 and a long side of an exposure processing unit STP are opposed to each other via an interface IFB. While doing
The direction of the short side of the processing unit 101 and the exposure processing unit S
It is configured such that the direction of the short side of the TP is the same direction.

The processing unit 101 is a rectangular unit that performs a resist coating process on an unprocessed substrate and develops the substrate W after the exposure process, and includes an indexer ID for carrying in and out the substrate W. , Processing unit sequence 120
, A processing unit row 130, and substrate transfer devices TR1 and TR2.

The indexer ID includes the substrate transfer device 15,
And a substrate delivery table 16. Indexer I
D includes four carriers 10 capable of storing substrates W in multiple stages.
Are removably mounted. Note that the number of carriers 10 is not limited to four, and one or more carriers 10 may be placed. In addition, the carrier 10 containing the unprocessed substrate
Is transferred to the indexer ID from the automatic transfer apparatus AGV that travels in the X-axis direction near the substrate processing apparatus 100. Conversely, the carrier 10 storing the processed substrate is automatically transferred to the automatic transfer apparatus A.
The GV takes out the indexer ID and transports it.

The substrate transfer device 15 is movable in the X-axis direction (width direction of the processing unit 101), and is also capable of moving and rotating in the Z-axis direction (height direction).
The substrate transfer device 15 takes out the substrate W from the carrier 10 placed on the indexer ID, transports the substrate W in the X-axis direction, and places the substrate W on the substrate transfer table 16. When the processed substrate W is placed on the substrate delivery table 16, the substrate transfer device 15 takes out the substrate W and stores it in the carrier 10.

The processing unit 101 has two processing section rows and two transport paths.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a rotation processing unit formed along the long side of the processing unit 101. That is, the processing unit row 120 includes the substrate W
A spin coater SC1 for applying a resist by rotating
SC2 and spin developer SD that performs rotary development processing
1 and SD2. Further, the processing section row 130 includes edge exposure apparatuses EE1 and EE2 for performing edge exposure processing and the heat treatment section 105. The transport path R1 is provided along the long side of the processing unit 101,
The transport path R2 is provided between the processing unit row 120 and the processing unit row 130. Substrate transfer devices TR1 and TR2 are arranged on the two transfer paths R1 and R2, respectively.

The substrate transfer devices TR1 and TR2 are configured such that the transfer paths R1 and R2 are respectively formed by male screws of ball screws (not shown) provided in the transfer paths R1 and R2, a motor for rotating the male screws, and guide rails. It is configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction in FIG. The substrate transfer devices TR1 and TR2 are configured to be rotatable and vertically movable, and are also capable of moving back and forth (not shown).
have. When the substrate transport devices TR1 and TR2 transfer the substrate W, the substrate W is transferred or received by moving the arm back and forth and up and down.

Next, the heat treatment section 105 of the processing section row 130 will be described. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat treatment unit 105 cut along the YZ plane. As shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 5 has a laminated structure of a hot plate HP for heating the substrate, a cool plate CP for cooling the substrate, and a substrate transfer unit IFW. In FIG. 2, the laminated structure is formed in three rows, but is not limited to three rows and may be formed in one or more rows. Further, the laminated structure itself is not limited to the form as shown in FIG. 2. For example, a part of the upper three hot plates HP may be replaced with a spare cool plate CP.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the processing unit 101 taken along line VV. However, this drawing illustrates a case where the substrate transfer devices TR1 and TR2 exist on the line VV. As shown in the figure, the substrate entrance to the hot plate HP is provided only on the side of the transport path R1, whereas the cool plate CP and the substrate delivery unit IFW are provided.
Are provided on both sides of the transport path R1 and the transport path R2. By doing so, the heat of the hot plate HP is not released to the transport path R1, so that the spin developers SD1, SD1,
Thermally stable processing is performed in the SD2 and the spin coaters SC1 and SC2. In addition, Spin Developer SD
1, the arm of the substrate transport apparatus TR2 that accesses the SD2 and the spin coaters SC1 and SC2 does not directly contact the heated substrate W, so that the rotation processing unit performs thermally stable processing.

The substrate transport device TR1 and the substrate transport device TR2
The transfer of the substrate W is performed through the cool plate CP and the substrate transfer unit IFW. That is, when the substrate transport device TR1 transfers the substrate W to the substrate transport device TR2, the substrate transport device TR1 temporarily places the substrate W on the cool plate CP, and then the substrate transport device TR2 receives the substrate W. Conversely, when the substrate transport device TR2 transfers the substrate W to the substrate transport device TR1, after the substrate transport device TR2 places the substrate W on the substrate transfer unit IFW,
The substrate W is received by the substrate transport device TR1.

In the processing unit 101 described above, the substrate W paid out from the indexer ID is subjected to a heat treatment and a resist coating treatment by the heat treatment section 105 and the spin coater SC1 or SC2, respectively, and is transferred to the interface IFB by the substrate transfer device TR1. It is. In addition, the interface transporting device T
The exposed substrate W passed to R1 is subjected to the heat treatment unit 10
5 and heat treatment and development processing by the spin developers SD1 or SD2, respectively.
Is returned to.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the interface IFB when viewed from the exposure processing unit STP side. The interface IFB is provided between the long side of the processing unit 101 and the long side of the exposure processing unit STP.
This interface IFB is used for the substrate transfer robot 20.
, A substrate transfer robot 21, a buffer unit 25, a substrate loading table 31, a substrate loading table 32, and table tables 26, 2.
7 is provided.

The substrate transfer robot 20 has its main body 20
b is movable in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) by a motor 20e and a male screw 20d, and is rotatable by a motor 20c. That is, the main body 20
The support shaft 20g of b is screwed into the male screw 20d, and the male screw 20d connected to the motor 20e rotates in the forward or reverse direction, so that the main body 20b moves up and down. In addition, the main body 20b rotates in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 20c connected to the main body 20b.

An arm 20a and a substrate support pin (not shown) are provided on the upper surface of the main body 20b. And
The arm 2 is driven by a driving mechanism built in the main body 20b.
It is configured to be able to move back and forth in Oa. Therefore,
The arm 20a can move up and down and rotate with the up and down movement and rotation of the main body 20b, and can also move back and forth by the drive mechanism of the main body 20b. The substrate support pins can also be moved up and down by a driving mechanism built in the main body 20b.

The substrate W which has completed the resist coating processing in the processing unit 101 is transferred from the substrate transport device TR1 to the substrate transfer robot 20 of the interface IFB.
Conversely, the substrate W after the exposure processing is transferred to the substrate transfer robot 2
From 0, it is transferred to the substrate transport device TR1. Note that an opening P1 for this operation is provided on the connection portion between the interface IFB and the processing unit 101 on the side of the substrate transfer robot 20.

When the substrate W is transferred from the substrate transfer device TR1 to the substrate transfer robot 20, once the substrate W is placed on the substrate support pins, the substrate support pins are lowered and the substrate W is placed on the arm 20a. Will be passed. When the substrate W is transferred from the substrate transfer robot 20 to the substrate transfer device TR1, the substrate W is taken out from the arm 20a by raising the substrate support pins, and then the substrate W is removed. The arm of the substrate transport device TR1 receives the signal.

The substrate transfer robot 21 is a robot that transfers the substrate W between the buffer unit 25 and the substrate loading table 31 or the substrate loading table 32. The difference between the substrate transfer robot 21 and the substrate transfer robot 20 is that the substrate transfer robot 21 can be moved in the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction) by a motor 21e, a male screw 21c, and a guide rail 21d. The main part 21b is not provided with a substrate support pin that moves up and down, and the other points are the same as those of the substrate transfer robot 20. That is, the lower end of the vertical moving mechanism 21f of the substrate transfer robot 21 is screwed into the male screw 21c, and the guide rail 2
1d is slidably fitted. And the male screw 21
When the motor 21e connected to c rotates in the forward or reverse direction, the substrate transfer robot 21 moves forward or backward in the Y-axis direction. Further, an arm 21a which can be moved back and forth by a driving mechanism inside the main body 21b of the substrate transfer robot 21 is provided on an upper surface of the main body 21b.

The substrate W before the exposure processing (after the application of the resist)
Is transferred from the substrate transfer robot 20 to the substrate transfer robot 21, and the substrate W after the exposure processing is transferred from the substrate transfer robot 21 to the substrate transfer robot 20. These transfer are performed via the buffer unit 25. The buffer unit 25 is configured by stacking a plurality of storage shelves that support the peripheral end of the substrate W. That is, the arm of one robot temporarily stores the substrate W in the storage shelf, and the substrate W is taken out by the arm of the other robot, so that the transfer of the substrate W between the transfer robots is performed. At this time,
Since a plurality of storage shelves are provided, the interface I
FB and processing unit 101 or exposure processing unit ST
The substrate W can be temporarily stored in the buffer unit 25 even when the timing of the transfer of the substrate W to and from the P is abnormal.

Next, the substrate loading table 31 and the substrate loading table 3
2 are provided with pins 31a and 32a, respectively. The mounting of the substrate W on the substrate loading table 31 and the removal of the substrate W from the substrate loading table 32 are performed by these pins 31a and 3a.
2a. That is, when the substrate W is placed on the substrate loading table 31, the arm 21 a
, Then descends, and the substrate W is placed on the pins 31a. Then, the mounting is completed by the retreat of the arm 21a. The substrate W placed on the pins 31a is taken into the exposure processing unit STP and subjected to exposure processing.

The substrate W having undergone the exposure processing is placed on the pins 32a of the substrate unloading table 32. Then, the substrate unloading table 3
When the substrate W is taken out from the substrate 2, the arm 21a moves below the substrate W placed on the pins 32a, and then moves upward, so that the substrate W is placed on the arm 21a. Then, the arm 21a retreats and the removal of the substrate W is completed.

The table IFs 26 and 27 are provided in the interface IFB. This table stand 2
On cassettes 6 and 27, cassettes 26a and 27a each containing one or more substrates can be placed.
If you want to test the substrate W for exposure,
If it is desired to perform special processing other than the processing performed by the processing unit 101 before and after the exposure processing, the substrate W is loaded in the cassette 26.
a and 27a and placed on the table bases 26 and 27. This mounting operation is performed by the interface IFB.
The opening is performed by an operator opening a door 35 (see FIG. 1) provided in the first embodiment. The substrates W stored in the cassettes 26a and 27a placed on the table bases 26 and 27 are taken out by the substrate transfer robot 21 and carried into the substrate carry-in base 31, whereupon exposure processing is performed. Also, the substrate unloading table 3
The substrate W after the exposure processing carried out to the wafer 2 is taken out by the substrate transfer robot 21, and is loaded into the cassette 26a or 27.
The substrate W is stored at the original position where the substrate W was stored.

The exposure processing unit STP is an apparatus for performing exposure processing on a substrate W on which a resist has been applied, and is arranged on the opposite side of the processing unit 101 with the interface IFB interposed therebetween. This exposure processing unit STP includes:
It is configured to include an exposure machine and a robot that carries in and out the substrate. The robot has an interface IFB
The substrate W placed on the substrate carry-in table 31 is taken in and set in an exposure machine, or the substrate W after exposure is carried out to the substrate carry-out table 32. Further, the exposure processing unit STP includes:
A controller rack CO accommodating a control controller for controlling the exposure processing, an operation rack OP accommodating an operation panel, and an excimer laser oscillator LA for emitting an excimer laser beam as an exposure light source are connected. Further, a maintenance door 51 is provided in the exposure processing unit STP, and an operator opens the maintenance door 51 to perform maintenance work of the robot or the like.

Next, the arrangement of the entire substrate processing system in the clean room will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 100 are arranged in a clean room.

As shown in the figure, in this clean room,
Eight substrate processing apparatuses 100 are arranged in a matrix. In addition, four of the eight substrate processing apparatuses 100 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the substrate processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 (line symmetry about the X axis in the figure). Since they have the same function and perform the same operation, they are treated as the same device here.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, the automatic transfer device AGV
Are traveling in the X-axis direction. And each substrate processing apparatus 1
No. 00 is arranged so that the indexer ID faces the traveling route of the automatic transport apparatus AGV. Since the transfer of the substrate W is performed between the automatic transfer device AGV and the indexer ID, the above-described arrangement simplifies the traveling procedure of the automatic transfer device AGV and reduces the processing efficiency of the entire substrate processing system. improves.

Further, among the long sides of the processing unit 101 included in each substrate processing apparatus 100, the long side on which the processing unit row 120 is formed is the long side of the processing unit 101 included in another substrate processing apparatus 100. Of these, the processing unit rows 120 are opposed to each other at an interval from the long side on which the processing unit row 120 is formed. For example, the processing section row 120 of the first substrate processing apparatus 100 from the upper left in FIG. 5 is opposed to the processing section row 120 of the second substrate processing apparatus 100 from the upper left at an interval. As described above, the processing unit row 120 includes the spin coaters SC1 and SC2 and the spin developers SD1 and SD2.
This is a processing unit sequence including a rotation processing unit, such as a rotation processing unit, and a processing unit sequence in which an operator needs to perform maintenance such as a rotation mechanism and a nozzle. Therefore, according to the above, maintenance of the rotation processing units of the two substrate processing apparatuses can be performed at one work location without frequently moving the operator.

Further, comparing the arrangement of the substrate processing apparatus 100 in the substrate processing system according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5 with the arrangement of the conventional substrate processing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. Substrate processing device 10
0, the direction of the short side of the processing unit 101 is the same as the direction of the short side of the exposure processing unit STP.
No space PL1) occurs in the clean room, and the space in the clean room can be effectively used without waste.

The arrangement of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is not limited to the above example, and may be, for example, an arrangement as shown in FIG. In this arrangement, two automatic transfer devices AGV travel in the Y-axis direction, and the indexers ID of the four substrate processing devices 100 face each traveling path. Other points are the same as the arrangement shown in FIG. Even in this case, the same effects as those of the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention includes the substrate processing apparatus 100 as described above.
However, the configuration is not limited to this, and any configuration may be used as long as the long sides of the two processing units face each other via the interface, and the short sides of the two processing units are in the same direction.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another example of the substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention. In the substrate processing apparatus 300 shown in FIG.
The FB and the exposure processing unit STP are shifted to the left in the figure as compared with the substrate processing apparatus 100 described above. That is,
In the substrate processing apparatus 100, the short side on one side of the processing unit 101 and the short side on one side of the exposure processing unit STP are arranged on a straight line. However, these need not be arranged on a straight line. As shown in the substrate processing apparatus 300, while the long side of the processing unit 101 and the long side of the exposure processing unit STP face each other via the interface IFB, the direction of the short side of the processing unit 101 and the exposure processing unit ST
If the direction of the short side of P is parallel, no unused space is generated, and the space in the clean room can be effectively used without waste. Further, in the substrate processing apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 7, the maintenance door 51 of the exposure processing unit STP and the automatic transfer device AGV
Of the exposure processing unit ST
It does not hinder the traveling of the automatic transport device AGV during the maintenance work of P.

The substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention may be as follows. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another example of the substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention. In the substrate processing apparatus 400, the processing unit 401 includes one transport path R2.
And two processing unit rows 420 sandwiching the transport path R2,
430. The processing unit row 420 includes a rotation processing unit such as a spin coater SC1 and a spin developer SD1, and an edge exposure apparatus EE1, and the processing unit 10
It is formed along one long side. Also, the processing unit sequence 43
Reference numeral 0 includes a heat treatment unit 105 and a substrate transfer robot TR4. The interface IF3 includes a substrate transport device TR3, a buffer unit BU, and a substrate loading table 31.
And a substrate unloading table 32. In the substrate processing apparatus 400, the transfer of the substrate W between the processing unit 401 and the interface IF3 is performed via the substrate transfer robot TR4.

In the substrate processing apparatus 400 as well, the processing unit 401 and the exposure processing unit STP are both rectangular, and the long side of the processing unit 401 and the exposure processing unit STP.
While the long side of the TP faces each other via the interface IF3 and the direction of the short side of the processing unit 401 and the direction of the short side of the exposure processing unit STP are configured to be parallel, unused space is reduced. No space is generated, and the space in the clean room can be effectively used without waste.

[0058]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the direction of the short side of the rectangle of the first processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus and the short side of the rectangle of the second processing unit. The first processing unit and the second processing unit are arranged so that the directions of the first processing unit and the second processing unit are substantially the same, so that no unused space is generated, and the space in the clean room is effectively used without waste. Can be used.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the long side of the rectangle of the first processing unit in which the rotation processing unit is formed is the rectangular side of the first processing unit of one of the other substrate processing apparatuses. Of the long sides, the rotation processing unit is arranged opposite to the long side at which the rotation processing unit is formed, so that the two substrates are not moved frequently, and two substrates are arranged at one work place. Maintenance of the rotation processing unit of the processing apparatus can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus constituting a substrate processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat-treated portion of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 cut along a YZ plane.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the processing unit of FIG. 1 taken along line VV.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the interface of FIG. 1 as viewed from an exposure processing unit side.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a clean room.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a clean room.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another example of the substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another example of the substrate processing apparatus constituting the substrate processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

10 is a diagram showing a layout in a clean room where a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses of FIG. 9 are arranged.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 substrate processing apparatus 101 processing unit IFB interface STP exposure processing unit W substrate

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical indication H01L 21/30 569C (72) Inventor Kaoru Aoki 322 Hazukashi Furukawacho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto-Dainichi Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Inside the Rakusai Office (72) Inventor Masami Otani 322 Hainashishi Furukawa-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a substrate processing system in which a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a matrix, each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses includes: (a) a rectangular first processing unit that performs a predetermined processing on a substrate; (B) a rectangular second processing unit installed at a distance from the first processing unit and performing a predetermined process on the substrate; and (c) the first and second processing units. An interface provided between the first and second processing units for transferring the substrate between the first and second processing units. The direction of the short side of the rectangle of the first processing unit and the second processing The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first processing unit and the second processing unit are arranged so that a direction of a short side of a rectangle of the unit is substantially the same. 2. The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first processing unit includes a rotation processing unit that performs processing by rotating the substrate, and the second processing unit performs exposure that performs exposure processing on the substrate. A substrate processing system, being a processing unit. 3. The substrate processing system according to claim 2, wherein the rotation processing unit is formed along a long side of a rectangle of the first processing unit, and each of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses is configured to perform the rotation. A long side of the rectangle of the first processing unit on which the processing unit is formed is formed by the rotation processing unit on a long side of the rectangle of the first processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus of one of the other substrate processing apparatuses. A substrate processing system characterized in that the substrate processing system is arranged so as to face each other at an interval from a long side thereof.